Yesterday, the United Nations launched the Bhutto Commission to investigate the death of the only female Pakistani Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto. The Commission comprises of Mr. Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia, Mr. Peter Fitzgerald of Ireland and is headed by the Permanent Representative of Chile, Ambassador Heraldo Munoz.
A U.N. statement declared that the Commission has a 6 month time period “to inquire into the facts and circumstances of the assassination,” but also made it clear that “the duty of determining criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of the assassination remains with the Pakistani authorities.”
The assassination took place on December 27, 2007 in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, two weeks before the General Elections where Bhutto was leading the opposition against President Musharraf. She had just returned from exile after various charges of corruption on her were withdrawn. Her widower Asif Ali Zardari now leads the country. President Musharraf and CIA officials at the time had held Baitullah Mehsud – a Taliban official – as chief suspect.
The Commission is to start work on the 1st of July, but looking at the rise of terrorism and political instability in the country, success will not be easy.
